The use of specialized devices to collect vehicle use, driver behavior data and control mobile device use, and in particular a mobile (cellular) telephone use, while driving is well known in the art. For example, insurance companies issue rates, offer discounts and even quote rates to individuals based on data of driving behavior and/or vehicle use (herein “Vehicle Use”). The Vehicle Use data is often collected by permanently installing specialized hardware, by plugging a specialized telematics device into the OBD II port found in most late-model motor vehicles, or by plugging specialized hardware into another power source within a motor vehicle. For example, location, extreme deceleration, acceleration, distance traveled, operating parameters and other Vehicle Use data can be collected in this manner. The data collected by these specialized devices is generally on a trip-by-trip basis and is transmitted and stored for later assessment. Some current methods to collect the Vehicle Use data include transmission of vehicle use data from the OBD II port device to a second device, including mobile communication devices, in the motor vehicle designed to store the Vehicle Use data. Other known methods to collect vehicle use data include transmission from the OBD II port device over a network to a remote device designed to store the Vehicle Use data.
However, many of these various devices need to be manually started and stopped for each “driving trip” to collect and store the Vehicle Use data, require mounting of special hardware in or about the motor vehicle or drain the motor vehicle's battery by keeping the vehicle's engine control unit active at times when the vehicle is not being driven.
Recently, mobile communication devices, and in particular mobile “smart” phones, with specific software applications loaded onto the mobile communication devices, are being used to detect vehicle motion and store Vehicle Use data using the mobile communication device Global Positioning System (“GPS”) location services, accelerometer, gyroscope, and other mobile communication device functions, but with several significant drawbacks. For example, the automatic initiation of a trip in a motor vehicle for monitoring and recording purposes using a mobile communication device requires that the mobile communication device GPS positioning function remain active resulting in significant battery drain; battery preservation is an important consideration in mobile communication devices, especially in mobile phones. Further, such systems relying solely on GPS location services to determine “driving trips” can be unreliable, as GPS systems in mobile communication devices are not always accurate, for example when the GPS-equip mobile communication device is in an underground parking structure. In addition, a mobile communication device may also be required to establish a connection (“pair”) with the motor vehicle Bluetooth® system to initiate Vehicle Use data collection and storage. However, the vast majority of motor vehicles are non-Bluetooth®-equip, thereby rendering this method nonfunctional in such non-Bluetooth® motor vehicles.
What is needed is a fast, secure and convenient system and method to enable a mobile communication device to “pair” with all vehicles automatically while extending the mobile communication device battery life to collect vehicle use, driving behavior or vehicle use and driving behavior data.